Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 14:52:39 -0500

From: Jerry Miller millerj[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FRANKLINCOLL.EDU

Subject: Help! (R.E.M. lyrics)



The inhabitants of this list seem to have, in addition to an insatiable

hunger to know the quirks of dialect, a significant interest (and memory of)

song lyrics. So, I am hoping someone out there can help me fill in the blank

in an R.E.M. song that I plan to use in one of my classes.

About halfway through "Losing My Religion" comes this verse, which,

though I've listened to it 122 times (well, maybe not quite that many) I

cannot decipher completely (the blank is the main problem, but some of the

rest of it may be a little off, too?):



"Consider this, consider this, ___________ of the century.

"Consider this, the slip that brought me to my knees, fail.

"What if all these fantasies come flailing the ground?"



Anyone who can fill in (and/or correct) this for me will be my friend

for life. I won't even ask what it's supposed to mean, though I AM curious

(and too old to get it, I guess).



Jerry Miller

Pulliam School of Journalism

Franklin College (Ind.)

millerj[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]franklincoll.edu